𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐀𝐖𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐒

thirty

after the incidents on the fourth of july, things almost seemed back to normal. samantha mayfield and her sister, maxine, had safely survived yet another inter-dimensional war. and yet, despite the sisters survival, they had lost one of their own.

surviving, in her opinion, wasn't waking up attempting to soothe her younger sister from a nightmare. surviving wasn't having to live in a shitty trailer park. surviving sure as hell wasn't having to parent your own mother. she was alive, sure, but sam was still, in many ways, stuck in a battle.

the worst part of it all, samantha thought, was being shut out by her sister. normally the rational part of her brain would take max to go to a therapist, easily, get this checked out and try to minimize whatever case of depression and ptsd she had. but, of course, no therapist would believe her if she started talking about monsters and alternate realities. so she took it upon herself to try and help maxine out.

"it feels like.. it's still going on." max spoke, the sadness in her voice clear.

sam had frowned, shaking her head. "max, i know how it feels. but look, it's over now. and you aren't alone. you have lucas, dustin, steve, and even mike. more importantly, you have me."

she thought that her conversation with maxine had slightly consoled her. that maybe maxine would reach out to try and talk to the others. but she didn't.

at home, in front of sam, she acted normal. she seemed fine, and so sam figured she had talked it out. that maxine was finally healing like sam was. but at school, it was different. she wasn't doing well. and she really didn't want to talk about it either.

sam worked almost every day, all day. she rarely got days off, and when she did she spent them with steve or trying to spend time with max who always found a way to sit in her room alone. but, the kids made sure to always come visit her at work. to keep her updated with everything going on.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

"and the whole thing has been building up to eddie's big campaign, right?" dustin was saying as he sat behind the counter of family video. "and so we're going to have to win, it's the biggest deal in the entire history of deals."

sam nodded her head, clicking on the computer. "yeah, right. so this eddie guy is.. what.. twenty? and still in high school?"

dustin looked at her blankly. "so what? he's just.. he's one of my friends, alright, and i'd really appreciate it if you weren't so judgy considering you are one of my friends-"

"woah, woah, okay, calm down." she raised her hands in her own defense. "he's probably totally cool, okay, it's just weird to hear you talk about someone other than steve."

"steve isn't my only older male friend. and why are you acting surprised, eddie lives in the same trailer park as you?" dustin questioned.

"wait, are you talking about like eddie munson. like the one with the van?" sam immediately asked, as she faintly remembered him almost running her over with his van.

"yes, eddie with the van." he replied. "okay. okay. continue with this..."

dustin's brows furrowed. "campaign?" sam snapping her fingers at his words. "yes, yes. this campaign."

"sam! we have been friends for how long and you don't even know what i'm talking about?!" he spoke, shocked at his older female friend.